Teacher's Bios

Mark Lilly

Mark Lilly, co-founder of Insight Communication LLC, is the author of "Felix Maus", a forthcoming memoir of his son's fall from a tree, his time in the ICU, his three months in the hospital, and their family's continuing journey of rehabilitation and recovery. The intensity of the trauma and its impact on a large circle of people inspired Lilly to co-found Insight, in order to share mindful communication practices with those living and working through critical situations.

Through Insight Communication, Lilly offers mindfulness and communication training for healthcare staff, service care providers and other individuals in high stress situations. Mark learned mindful communication through his years long personal meditation and yoga practice, his professional work on mission critical software systems, his hands-on work in various healthcare settings, his work with homeless youth, as well as key trainings with experts in the field.

Mark has been an educator for over 23 years, having worked and taught in a wide variety of intense situations, including: teaching Spanish speaking children in inner city L.A., mentoring youth living in dire poverty; serving as a medic at the Berkeley Free Clinic; working in a Boston soup kitchen; touring Nicaragua with a medical fact-finding delegation; co-founding a refugee health clinic; working with critically ill children in the PICU, NICU and heme/onc floors; serving as president for a cooperative preschool; caring for a totally paralyzed man; negotiating multi-million dollar technology contracts and more. Mark also learned first hand about trauma when he was victim of a particularly violent bank robbery in the 1980's.

Mark started working with homeless youth and adults in the Berkeley Free Clinic as a medic and resource counselor while at the University of California, Berkeley (B.S. 1988). His commitment to homeless youth led him to found a health clinic, volunteer at Sisters of the Road Cafe, participate in a Janus Youth Services training workshop and take part in homeless youth crisis intervention through Outside In (Portland, OR). Eventually, this path led him to found Street Yoga in 2002, an organization that teaches yoga and wellness to homeless youth --as a technique to reduce stress, stay warm, treat chronic pain and improve health. Through Street Yoga, he has provided professional training in mindful communication to organizations and individuals working with homeless youth, including the Portland Police and the National Health Care for the Homeless in Washington, D.C.

Mark's professional background includes 15 years experience as a software architect consultant for high profile clients, including Massachusetts General, Nike, AT&T and Kaiser Permanente.